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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


A  CLEAN  PEACE 

THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH 
LABOUR 

Complete  text  of  the  Official  War  Aims  Memorandum 
of  the  I  Titer- Allied  Labour  and  Socialist 
ConferencCy  held  in  London, 
February  23,  1918  " 

BY 

CHARLES  A.  McCURDY,  M.P. 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


Price,  Ten  Cents 


■DL>iS 
N24- 


"We  have  to  endure  with  courage  and  patience.  We 
have  to  remember  that  all  the  world's  g^eat  things  have 
been  produced  in  the  same  way — through  the  toil  of  noble 
hearts,  through  burning  fears,  and  through  the  free  sacri- 
fice of  our  blood  for  one  another.  Then,  believing  that 
that  is  the  way  by  which  comes  the  redemption  of  the  world, 
through  the  confusion  and  the  garments  steeped  in  blood 
and  the  horrors  and  anguish  of  war,  we  shall  see  'Christ's 
Kingdom  will  ccwne  at  last,  the  Kingdom  of  Peace  and 
Love.' " 

Dr.  R.  F,  Horton. 


PREFACE 

The  statement  of  war  aims  adopted  by  the  Socialist  and 
Labour  Parties  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  and  Bel- 
gium at  the  Inter-Allied  Conference,  held  in  London  on 
February  2^,  19 18,  is  practically  the  same  as  that  pre- 
viously adopted  by  the  British  Labour  Party  and  British 
Trade  Unionist  Congress  on  December  28,  19 17.  It  is 
therefore  a  statement  of  British  origin.  In  its  original 
form  it  received  the  cordial  endorsement  of  American 
Labour,  and  in  its  present  form  it  may  be  said  to  represent, 
with  authority,  the  views  common  to  organised  Labour  in 
all  the  Allied  countries. 

The  statement  contains  here  and  there  suggestions  which 
will  be  received  with  more  S)rmpathy  in  Socialist  circles 
than  elsewhere,  but  on  the  great  issues  of  war  and  peace 
it  reveals  a  close  and  welcome  agreement  between  the  pur- 
pose and  aims  of  organised  Labour  and  those  of  the  British 
Government  and  the  British  people. 

C.  A.  M. 


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A  CLEAN  PEACE 


T^IFFERENT  people  describe  our  war  aims  differently. 
^^  Some  can  think  of  nothing  but  Belgium — with  its 
ruined  towns  and  villages,  its  looted  factories  from  which 
all  the  machinery  has  been  taken  away  into  Germany,  its 
starving  people,  its  young  men  and  women  torn  from  their 
homes  to  work  for  their  German  masters.  They  say,  what- 
ever else  happens,  Belgium  must  be  restored  before  we 
can  talk  of  peace ;  and  they  are  right. 

Others  will  tell  you  that  there  can  be  no  lasting  peace 
for  Europe  tmtil  the  peoples  of  Europe  are  free  from  the 
domination  of  foreign  rulers — free  to  live  their  own  lives, 
speak  their  own  languages,  and  worship  God  in  their  own 
way.  In  German  Poland  it  is  a  crime  for  little  children 
to  say  their  prayers  in  their  mother  tongue. 

Austria  is  made  up  of  all  sorts  of  peoples  and  nation- 
alities— Poles,  Hungarians,  Czechs,  Slavs,  Roumanians, 
Italians — many  of  whom  will  never  be  satisfied  until  they 
obtain  political  freedom.  And  everyone  knows  how  the 
forcible  annexation  of  two  French  provinces — Alsace  and 
Lorraine — has  been  one  of  the  causes  which  brought  about 
the  present  war.  The  strength  of  Germany  in  this  war 
rests  on  the  fact  that  she  can  conscript  to-day  all  the  subject 
races  of  Europe — fifty  million  people — to  fight  for  a  cause 
they  loathe  and  for  masters  whom  they  hate,  against  their 
own  race  and  their  own  kith  and  kin.     I  have  no  doubt 


je  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

that  the  enfranchisement  of  the  subject  peoples  of  Europe 
is  one  of  the  most  important  of  our  aims. 

But  if  I  were  asked  what  is  the  absolutely  essential  thing 
for  which  we  are  fighting,  I  could  find  no  better  answer 
than  the  statement  which  strikes  the  keynote  of  the  official 
statement  of  the  War  Aims  of  Allied  Labour : 

"Of  all  the  war  aims  none  is  so  important  to  the  peoples  of 
the  world  as  that  there  should  be  henceforth  on  earth  no 
more  war." 

It  is  no  use  setting  the  peoples  of  Europe  free  if  they, 
have  nothing  to  hope  for,  but  to  pay  taxes  and  work  over- 
time, in  preparation  for  another  war.  It  is  no  use  restoring 
Belgium  if,  when  she  is  restored,  she  is  liable  to  be  again 
invaded.  Her  fate  would  be  like  that  of  the  house  of  which 
St.  Matthew  tells — when  the  evil  spirit  had  gone  out,  he 
presently  returned,  and,  finding  the  house  swept  and  gar- 
nished, took  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked  than  himself, 
and  the  last  state  of  that  house  was  worse  than  the  first. 

Things  are  much  too  bad  in  Europe  to-day  to  be  just 
patched  up.  We  must  find  some  end  to  the  war  which  will 
save  Belgium  and  ourselves,  once  and  for  all,  from  any 
possibility  of  the  same  thing  happening  again. 

A  New  Fact. 

When  this  war  began  most  people  thought  it  would  be 
over  in  a  few  months.  Some  terms  of  peace  would  be 
arranged,  Belgium  would  be  compensated,  and  then 
Europe  would  just  settle  down  as  before.  That  is  the  way 
most  wars  have  ended,  and  nations  have  been  making  wars 
and  ending  wars  and  beginning  wars  again,  ever  since 
history  was  first  written. 

But  three  years  have  passed  and  we  have  discovered 


THE  WAR  ATMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR         3 

something  new  about  war — something  that  makes  war  to- 
day different  from  any  of  the  great  wars  of  history,  some- 
thing that  we  hope  will  make  war  impossible  for  the  gen- 
erations to  come  after  us.  This  new  fact  is  the  unexpected, 
the  enormous  increase  in  the  cost  of  war. 

In  times  of  peace,  in  the  years  before  1914,  when  we 
thought  that  war  could  never  be  got  rid  of  altogether,  the 
nations  of  Europe  naturally  made  preparations  every  year 
for  the  possibility  of  war.  They  spent  money  on  armies 
and  navies  as  a  necessary  protection  against  a  war  which 
most  of  them  hoped  would  never  come.  Every  year  they 
were  spending  nearly  £400,000,000  on  naval  and  military 
establishments  as  a  sort  of  insurance  against  war. 

It  was  an  enormous  sum.  The  peoples  of  Europe  were 
spending  more  in  preparation  for  war  than  they  spent  on 
the  health  of  the  people,  on  sanitation,  on  education,  on 
schools  and  universities,  on  insurance  for  workers,  on 
medical  dispensaries,  old-age  pensions,  and  on  every  kind 
of  scheme  for  improving  the  housing,  the  conditions  of 
labour,  or  the  social  conditions  of  the  different  peoples. 
Every  penny  of  it  had  to  be  provided  by  the  labour  of  the 
peoples  of  Europe,  and  it  left  many  nations  poor  indeed. 
If  such  a  sum  had  been  applied  to  more  useful  purposes, 
we  might  have  abolished  all  slums  in  Europe,  doubled  all 
the  shipping  of  the  world,  built  new  railways  round  the 
world,  shortened  the  hours  of  labour,  and  raised  the  stand- 
ard of  life  and  comfort  for  every  worker  in  Europe  in  a 
few  years'  time. 

From  a  Tin  Soldier  to  a  Tank. 

It  was  all  spent  in  preparing  for  war.  And  the 
astonishing  thing  is  that  when  war  came  in  19 14  it  found 
all  of  us  unprepared.    We  know  how,  in  Great  Britain,  we 


4  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

had  to  multiply  armies  and  armaments  tenfold  and  twenty- 
fold  when  war  actually  came.  The  £400,000,000  a  year 
which  Europe  was  spending  was  not  enough,  not  half 
enough,  not  anything  like  enough,  for  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  spent.  If,  when  this  war  is  over,  we  have  to 
reckon  with  the  possibility  of  another  war,  Europe  must 
spend,  not  a  paltry  £400,000,000  a  year  in  preparation,  but 
a  sum  that  would  be  nearer  £4,000,000,000. 

War  has  grown  in  stature  from  a  child  to  a  giant,  from 
a  tin  soldier  to  a  tank.  We  cannot  afford  to  keep  him  any' 
longer.  We  have  got  to  fight  this  war  through  until  we 
get  complete  security  against  any  future  wars.  Unless  we 
do  that  we  can  look  forward  to  working  overtime  all  our 
lives  to  pay  the  cost  of  this  war  and  the  next.  It  is  best 
to  look  the  facts  in  the  face,  size  up  the  job,  and  make  up 
our  minds  to  go  on  quietly  until  we  are  through  with  it. 

At  present  the  German  military  rulers  who  planned  this 
war,  who  have  made  war  their  trade  and  the  conquest  of 
their  neighbours  their  state  policy  for  half  a  century,  are 
still  firmly  in  power.  They  are  not  willing  to  talk  of  any 
peace  that  would  disarm  them,  that  would  destroy  the  great 
military  forces  on  which  the  German  Empire  has  been  built 
up,  on  which  the  House  of  Hohenzollem  rests. 

But  until  they  are  disarmed  their  neighbours  cannot  dis- 
arm, and  an  armed  peace  would  mean  bankruptcy  for  half 
the  nations  of  Europe  in  a  few  years'  time. 

Autocracies  Must  Go. 

The  War  Aims  Memorandum  of  Allied  Labour  goes 
boldly  to  the  root  of  the  evil.  It  relies,  as  the  means  neces- 
sary to  prevent  war,  upon  the  formation  of  a  League  of 
Nations,  based  on 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR  5 

"The  complete  democratisation  of  all  countries,  the  removal 
of  all  the  arbitrary  Powers  who,  until  now,  have  assumed 
the  right  of  choosing  between  peace  and  war;  the  mainte- 
nance or  creation  of  legislatures  elected  by  and  on  behalf  of 
the  sovereign  right  of  the  people,  the  suppression  of  secret 
diplomacy  to  be  replaced  by  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy 
under  the  control  of  popular  legislatures." 

These  words  have  only  one  meaning.  Autocracies  must 
go;  Hohenzollerns  and  Hapsburgs,  with  their  sultans  and 
satraps,  must  be  removed,  or  no  longer  be  entrusted  with 
the  keys  of  life  and  death,  the  power  to  send  to  the  slaughter 
millions  of  the  human  race. 

Never  again  must  it  be  in  the  power  of  one  man  to  speak 
a  word  that  will  condemn  an  innocent  people  to  death  or 
plunge  a  world  into  war. 

Any  peace  by  agreement  which  left  the  Hohenzollerns 
dictators  of  Central  Europe  would  be  a  humbug  and  a 
sham.    Hohenzollernism  must  go ! 

Disarmament. 

And  not  only  must  the  coming  peace  free  all  nations, 
the  Germans  as  well  as  ourselves,  from  the  dangers  of  a 
despotic  system  of  government,  it  must  give  us  visible  and 
tangible  proofs  of  security  for  the  future.  Europe  must 
be  drastically  disarmed. 

Disarmament  is  the  test  and  touchstone  of  an  honest 
peace. 

When  anyone  proposes  terms  of  peace,  the  simple  way 
of  seeing  whether  the  terms  are  worth  considering  is  to 
ask  these  questions:  "Would  the  peace  proposed  enable 
us  to  disarm  ?    Would  it  disarm  Germany  ?" 

No  other  kind  of  peace  is  worth  talking  about.  We 
want  peace  for  our  children  as  well  as  for  ourselves,  and 


6  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

no  peace  would  be  any  good  to  them  that  left  Europe 
full  of  armies  and  arsenals  heaped  with  stores  of  high  ex- 
plosives, one  huge  powder  magazine.  Sooner  or  later 
some  idiot  would  strike  a  match,  and  the  whole  business 
of  war  would  start  all  over  again. 

The  Inter-Allied  statement  goes  with  clear  common 
sense  straight  to  the  heart  of  the  matter.  There  must  be 
no  more  of  these  gigantic  armies  and  armaments.  So 
long  as  the  great  machines  of  war  are  kept  always  ready 
for  use  by  any  people  or  ruler  on  any  sudden  impulse  or 
provocatic"",  there  can  never  be  a  safe  and  secure  peace. 
The  system  of  conscription  which  places  huge  armies 
always  at  the  disposal  of  warlike  rulers  and  peoples  must  go. 

"The  LfCague  of  Nations,  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  con- 
certed abolition  of  compulsory  military  service  in  all  coun- 
tries, must  first  take  steps  for  the  prohibition  of  fresh  arma- 
ments on  land  and  sea,  and  for  the  common  limitation  of  the 
existing  armaments  by  which  all  the  peoples  are  burdened." 

Yhe  essential  war  aim  of  the  peoples  in  all  countries  is 
the  same — not  conquest  or  glory,  but  security — and  with- 
out a  drastic  disarmament  of  Europe,  no  real  security  is 
possible. 

Justice. 

And  Allied  Labour  recognises  clearly  that  something  more 
than  disarmament  is  necessary  for  Europe  if  we  are  to 
have  a  clean  Peace  that  will  not  leave  the  embers  of  war 
still  smouldering. 

The  Coming  Peace  must  also  be  based  on  a  policy  of 
justice. 

We  cannot  build  a  new  and  better  Europe  on  a  rotten 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR         7 

foundation  of  ancient  wrongs.  There  are  crimes  that  must 
be  atoned  for,  oppressed  races  that  must  be  freed,  home- 
less and  ruined  peoples  that  must  be  saved  and  restored. 
The  Inter-Allied  Conference  has  in  its  memorandum  dealt 
at  great  length  with  many  of  the  problems  that  will  arise — 
economic  problems,  colonial  questions,  schemes  for  re- 
instating industry  and  for  reconstruction  after  the  war. 
It  would,  of  course,  be  impossible  for  us  all  to  be  agreed 
on  all  points,  when  we  come  to  consider  these  large  and 
difficult  problems.  There  is  room  for  differences  of  opin- 
ion. But  the  Conference  has  laid  down  certain  main  prin- 
ciples with  which  no  one  will  quarrel. 

The  Allied  Socialists  are  not  hypnotised  by  the  Brest- 
Litovsk  formula  of  "Peace  without  annexations  or  indemni- 
ties." They  frankly  disclaim  any  war  of  conquest,  whether 
what  is  sought  to  be  acquired  by  force  is  territory  or  wealth. 
But  they  recognise  that  without  some  annexations  and 
without  some  indemnities,  there  can  be  no  just  and  lasting 
peace. 

There  must  be  annexations,  if  they  are  necessary  to  set 
free  a  tortured  and  oppressed  people,  as  in  the  case  of 
Armenia. 

"Whatever  may  be  proposed  with  regard  to  Armenia,  Meso- 
potamia, and  Arabia,  they  cannot  be  restored  to  the  tjrranny 
of  the  Sultan  and  his  Pashas." 

There  must  be  indemnities,  and  heavy  indemnities,  where 
a  whole  people  have  been  robbed,  looted,  and  pillaged, 
ruined,  and  made  homeless. 

"The  Conference  emphatically  insists  that  a  foremost  con- 
dition of  peace  must  be  the  reparation  by  the  German  Gov- 
ernment, imder  the  direction  of  an  International  Commis- 
sion, of  the  wrong  admittedly  done  to  Belgium,  and  pay- 


8  '  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

ment  by  the  Government  for  all  the  damage  that  has  re- 
sulted from  this  wrong." 

And  Armenia  and  Belgium  are  not  the  only  countries  that 
have  to  be  considered. 

"The  Conference  declares  its  warmest  sympathy  with  the 
people  of  Italian  blood  and  speech  who  have  been  left  out- 
side the  boundaries  ....  assigned  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Italy,  and  supports  their  claim  to  be  united  with  those  of 
their  own  race  and  tongue." 

The  Conference  suggests  that  the  peace  of  the  world 
requires  that  the  Dardanelles  should  be  permanently  and 
effectively  neutralised  and  opened  under  the  control  of  a 
League  of  Nations  freely  to  all  nations.  It  is  not  forget- 
ful of  the  just  claims  of  Poland  or  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 

The  war  aims  of  Allied  Labour  do  not  stop  at  a  mere 
negative  statement  or  phrase.  "Peace  without  annexa- 
tions or  punitive  indemnities"  is  not  enough. 

A  peace,  on  that  basis  alone,  would  leave  Armenia  in 
the  hands  of  its  butchers,  leave  the  autocracies  of  Central 
Europe  in  unfettered  control  of  armies  and  armaments,  and 
leave  the  rest  of  Europe  without  a  shadow  of  security 
against  future  wars. 

A  Grand  Assize. 

Allied  Labour  demands  a  peace  wholly  different  from 
that.  No  settlement  can  be  lasting  that  does  not  give  men 
and  women  security  for  life  and  honour,  and  a  decent  peace 
must  recognise  some  difference  between  right  and  wrong. 
An  important  item  of  the  memorandum  puts  forward  the 
demands  of  the  Conference  for  the  recognition  of  the  claims 
of  Justice  as  an  essential  term  of  peace.    It  calls  for  a  Grand 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR         9 

Assize  to  investigate  "accusations  so  freely  made  on  all 
sides": 


"The  Conference  will  not  be  satisfied  unless  a  full  and  free 
judicial  investigation  is  made  into  .  .  .  acts  of  cruelty, 
oppression,  violence,  and  theft  against  individual  victims  for 
which  no  justification  can  be  found  in  the  ordinary  usages 
of  war.  It  draws  attention  particularly  to  the  loss  of  life 
and  property  of  merchant  seamen  and  other  non-combat- 
ants, including  women  and  children,  resulting  from  this 
inhuman  and  ruthless  conduct.  It  should  be  part  of  the 
conditions  of  peace  that  there  should  be  forthwith  set  up  a 
Court  of  Claims  and  Accusations,  which  should  investigate 
all  such  allegations  as  may  be  brought  before  it,  summon 
the  accused  person  or  Government  to  answer  the  complaint, 
pronounce  judgment  and  award  compensation  or  damages, 
payable  by  the  individual  or  Government  condemned,  to  the 
persons  who  had  suffered  wrong  or  to  their  dependants." 

There  must  not  only  be  compensation  for  property  de- 
stroyed. The  wage-earners  and  peasants  must  be  restored 
to  their  lost  homes  and  their  lost  employment. 

A  Clean  Peace. 

If  the  German  rulers  imagined  that  they  could  humbug 
the  British  as  they  humbugged  the  Bolsheviks,  if  they 
thought  that  their  success  in  deceiving  the  inexperienced 
democracy  of  Russia  by  peace  phrases  and  formulas  could 
be  repeated  by  any  pacifist  propaganda  among  the  workers 
of  Great  Britain  or  Western  Europe,  the  manifesto  of  the 
Inter-Allied  Conference  of  London  must  be  a  disappoint- 
ment to  them.  The  memorandum  of  war  aims  issued  by 
the  Conference  speaks  the  language  neither  of  Pacifism 
nor  of  Bolshevism,  but  of  resolute  common  sense.  It  is 
in  striking  agreement  with  the  authoritative  statement  of 


10  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

the  Prime  Minister  of  British  war  aims  made  on  January 

5.  1917. 

It  echoes  the  declaration  of  war  aims  made  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  on  January  11.  It  reveals  the  essential  unity 
of  purpose  that  now  animates  the  Governments  and  the  peo- 
ples of  Western  Europe. 

We  desire  neither  to  destroy  Germany  nor  to  diminish 
her  boundaries,  nor  to  cripple  her  trade.  We  seek  neither 
territory  nor  any  spoils  of  war. 

We  aim  at  nothing  which  we  cannot  state  openly  before 
all  men. 

All  the  war  aims  of  all  our  peoples  can  be  summed  up  in 
two  words:    We  are  fighting  for  a  Clean  Peace. 


In  a  few  years  the  story  o£  the  Great  War  will  be  as  a 
tale  that  is  told.  Over  the  shell-scarred  fields  of  battle 
will  again  be  growing  corn  and  fresh  flowers.  The  ruined 
villages  of  Belgium  will  have  been  re-built.  The  dead, 
dismembered  orchards  of  France  will  bloom  again. 

Another  generation  than  ours  will  read  of  the  rape  of 
Belgium,  of  the  first  tide  of  invasion  that  carried  the  Ger- 
mans to  the  very  gates  of  Paris,  and  of  the  saving  miracle 
of  the  Mame. 

But  they  will  never  realise,  as  we  hare  realised,  the 
agony  it  meant  for  the  bewildered  peoples  on  whom  the 
storm  first  broke. 

Please  God,  they  will  never  know  all  the  intolerable 
cruelties  that  we  have  known,  or  be  called  on  to  bear  the 
sacrifices  that  we  have  made.  / 

And  there  will  come  a  time  when  all  the  sufferings  and 
the  pain  will  be  forgotten  as  though  they  had  never  been. 

But  the  Peace  that  we  shall  presently  make  will  not  so 
soon  be  forgotten.    It  will  shape  the  destinies  of  our  race, 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        11 

fashion  the  daily  lives  of  our  peoples,  as  a  living,  potent 
force  for  centuries  to  come. 

Upon  the  terms  of  that  Peace  hangs  the  future  of  Europe 
and  the  world. 

To  prolong  the  war  for  one  unnecessary  hour  would  be 
treason  to  those  who  to-day  are  fighting  and  dying  that 
Europe  may  be  free;  but  to  accept  an  unreal  Peace,  an 
armed  Peace,  a  Peace  that  would  leave  wrongs  unremedied, 
old  sores  unhealed;  that  would  leave  Prussian  militarism 
neither  defeated  nor  disarmed,  would  be  a  still  greater 
treason  to  our  children. 

"A  victory  for  German  Imperialism  would  be  the  defeat  and 
the  destruction  of  democracy  and  liberty  in  Europe." 

WAR  AIMS  MEMORANDUM. 

ADOPTED    BY    THE    INTER-ALLIED    LABOUR    AND    SOCIALIST 
CONFERENCE,    HELD   IN    LONDON,    AT   THE    CENTRAL    HALL, 
WESTMINSTER,    ON    FEBRUARY    23,    I918. 
THE  WAR. 

I. — ^The  Inter-Allied  Conference  declares  that  whatever 
may  have  been  the  causes  of  the  outbreak  of  war,  it  is  clear 
that  the  peoples  of  Europe,  who  are  necessarily  the  chief  suf- 
ferers from  its  horrors,  had  themselves  no  hand  in  it.  Their 
common  interest  is  now  so  to  conduct  the  terrible  struggle  in 
which  they  find  themselves  engaged  as  to  bring  it,  as  soon  as 
may  be  possible,  to  an  issue  in  a  secure  and  lasting  peace  for 
the  world. 

The  Conference  sees  no  reason  to  depart  from  the  following 
declaration  unanimously  agreed  to  at  the  Conference  of  the 
Socialist  and  Labour  Parties  of  the  Allied  nations  on  February 
14,  1915:— 

"This  Conference  cannot  ignore  the  profound  general  causes 
of  the  European  conflict,  itself  a  monstrous  product  of  the 
antagonisms  which  tear  asunder  capitalist  society  and  of  the 
policy  of  Colonial  dependencies  and  aggressive  Imperialism, 
against  which  International  Socialism  has  never  ceased  to  fight, 


12  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

and  in  which  every  Government  has  its  share  of  responsibility. 

"The  invasion  of  Belgium  and  France  by  the  German  armies 
threatens  the  very  existence  of  independent  nationalities,  and 
strikes  a  blow  at  all  faith  in  treaties.  In  these  circumstances  a 
victory  for  German  Imperialism  would  be  the  defeat  and  the 
destruction  of  democracy  and  liberty  in  Europe,  The  Social- 
ists of  Great  Britain,  Belgium,  France,  and  Russia  do  not  pur- 
sue the  political  and  economic  crushing  of  Germany ;  they  are 
not  at  war  with  the  peoples  of  Germany  and  Austria,  but  only 
with  the  Governments  of  those  countries  by  which  they  are 
oppressed.  They  demand  that  Belgium  shall  be  liberated  and 
compensated.  They  desire  that  the  question  of  Poland  shall 
be  settled  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  Polish  people, 
either  in  the  sense  of  autonomy  in  the  midst  of  another  State, 
or  in  that  of  complete  independence.  They  wish  that  through- 
out all  Europe,  from  Alsace-Lorraine  to  the  Balkans,  those 
populations  that  have  been  annexed  by  force  shall  receive  the 
right  freely  to  dispose  of  themselves. 

"While  inflexibly  resolved  to  fight  until  victory  is  achieved 
to  accomplish  this  task  of  liberation,  the  Socialists  are  none 
the  less  resolved  to  resist  any  attempt  to  transform  this  defen- 
sive war  into  a  war  of  conquest,  which  would  only  prepare 
fresh  conflicts,  create  new  grievances,  and  subject  various  peo- 
ples more  than  ever  to  the  double  plague  of  armaments  and 
war. 

"Satisfied  that  they  are  remaining  true  to  the  principles  of 
the  International,  the  members  of  the  Conference  express  the 
hope  that  the  working  classes  of  all  the  different  countries  will 
before  long  find  themselves  united  again  in  their  struggle 
against  militarism  and  capitalist  Imperialism.  The  victory  of 
the  Allied  Powers  must  be  a  victory  for  popular  liberty,  for 
unity,  independence,  and  autonomy  of  the  nations  in  the  peace- 
ful federation  of  the  United  States  of  Europe  and  the  world." 

MAKING  THE  WORLD  SAFE  FOR  REMOCRACY. 

II, — Whatever  may  have  been  the  objects  for  which  the 
war  was  begun,  the  fundamental  purpose  of  the  Inter-Allied 
Conference  in  supporting  the  continuance  of  the  struggle  is 
that  the  world  may  henceforth  be  made  safe  for  democracy. 

Of  all  the  conditions  of  peace  none  is  so  important  to  the 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        13 

peoples  of  the  world  as  that  there  should  be  henceforth  on 
earth  no  more  war. 

Whoever  triumphs,  the  peoples  will  have  lost  unless  an  inter- 
national system  is  established  which  will  prevent  war.  What 
would  it  mean  to  declare  the  right  of  peoples  to  self-deter- 
mination if  this  right  were  left  at  the  mercy  of  new  violations, 
and  were  not  protected  by  a  super-national  authority?  That 
authority  can  be  no  other  than  the  League  of  Nations,  in  which 
not  only  all  the  present  belligerents,  but  every  other  inde- 
pendent ^tate,  should  be  pressed  to  join. 

The  constitution  of  such  a  League  of  Nations  implies  the 
immediate  establishment  of  an  International  High  Court,  not 
only,  for  the  settlement  of  all  disputes  between  States  that  are 
of  justiciable  nature,  but  also  for  prompt  and  effective  media- 
tion between  States  in  other  issues  that  vitally  interest  the 
power  or  honour  of  such  States.  It  is  also  under  the  control 
of  the  League  of  Nations  that  the  consultation  of  peoples  for 
purposes  of  self-determination  must  be  organised.  This  pop- 
ular right  can  be  vindicated  only  by  popular  vote.  The  League 
of  Nations  shall  establish  the  procedure  of  international  juris- 
diction, fix  the  methods  which  will  maintain  the  freedom  and 
security  of  the  election,  restore  the  political  rights  of  indi- 
viduals which  violence  and  conquest  may  have  injured,  repress 
any  attempt  to  use  pressure  or  corruption,  and  prevent  any 
subsequent  reprisals.  It  will  be  also  necessary  to  form  an 
International  Legislature,  in  which  the  representatives  of 
every  civilised  State  would  have  their  allotted  share,  and  ener- 
getically to  push  forward,  step  by  step,  the  development  of 
international  legislation  agreed  to  by,  and  definitely  binding 
upon,  the  several  States. 

By  a  solemn  agreement  all  the  States  and  peoples  consulted 
shall  pledge  themselves  to  submit  every  issue  between  two  or 
more  of  them  for  settlement  as  aforesaid.  Refusal  to  accept 
arbitration  or  to  submit  to  the  settlement  will  imply  deliberate 
aggression,  and  all  the  nations  will  necessarily  have  to  make 
common  cause,  by  using  any  and  every  means  at  their  dis- 
posal, either  economical  or  militarj^  against  any  State  or  States 
refusing  to  submit  to  the  arbitration  award,  or  attempting  to 
break  the  world's  covenant  of  peace. 

But  the  sincere  acceptance  of  the  rules  and  decisiens  of  the 


14  "  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

super-national  authority  implies  the  complete  democratisation 
of  all  countries ;  the  removal  of  all  the  arbitrary  powers  who, 
until  now,  have  assumed  the  right  of  choosing  between  peace 
and  war;  the  maintenance  or  creation  of  legislatures  elected 
by  and  on  behalf  of  the  sovereign  right  of  the  people;  the 
suppression  of  secret  diplomacy,  to  be  replaced  by  the  conduct 
of  foreign  policy  under  the  control  of  popular  legislatures,  and 
the  publication  of  all  treaties,  which  must  never  be  in  contra- 
vention of  the  stipulation  of  the  League  of  Nations,  with  the 
absolute  responsibility  of  the  Government,  and  more  partic- 
ularly of  the  Foreign  Minister  of  each  country  to  its  Legis- 
lature. 

Only  such  a  policy  will  enforce  the  frank  abandonment  of 
every  form  of  Imperialism.  When  based  on  universal  democ- 
racy, in  a  world  in  which  effective  international  guarantees 
against  aggression  have  been  secured,  the  League  of  Nations 
will  achieve  the  complete  suppression  of  force  as  the  means  of 
settling  international  differences. 

The  League  of  Nations,  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  con- 
certed abolition  of  compulsory  military  service  in  all  countries, 
must  first  take  steps  for  the  prohibition  of  fresh  armaments 
on  land  and  sea,  and  for  the  common  limitation  of  the  existing 
armaments  by  which  all  the  peoples  are  burdened;  as  well  as 
the  control  of  war  manufactures  and  the  enforcement  of  such 
agreements  as  may  be  agreed  to  thereupon.  The  States  must 
undertake  such  manufactures  themselves,  so  as  entirely  to 
abolish  profit-making  armament  firms,  whose  pecuniary  inter- 
est lies  always  in  the  war  scares  and  progressive  competition 
in  the  preparation  for  war. 

The  nations,  being  armed  solely  for  self-defence  and  for 
such  action  as  the  League  of  Nations  may  ask  them  to  take  in 
defence  of  international  right,  will  be  left  free,  under  inter- 
national control  either  to  create  a  voluntarily  recruited  force 
or  to  organise  the  nation  for  defence  without  professional 
armies  for  long  terms  of  military  service. 

To  give  effect  to  the  above  principles,  the  Inter-Allied  Con- 
ference declares  that  the  rules  upon  which  the  League  of 
Nations  will  be  founded  must  be  included  in  the  Treaty  of 
Peace,  and  will  henceforward  become  the  basis  of  the  settle- 
ment of  differences.    In  that  spirit  the  Conference  expresses 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        16 

its  agreement  with  the  propositions  put  forward  by  President 
Wilson  in  his  last  message : — 

(i)  That  each  part  of  the  final  settlement  must  be  based 
upon  the  essential  justice  of  that  particular  case  and  upon 
such  adjustments  as  are  most  likely  to  bring  a  peace  that  will 
be  permanent. 

(2)  That  peoples  and  provinces  are  not  to  be  bartered 
about  from  sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if  they  were  mere 
chattels  or  pawns  in  a  game,  even  the  great  game  now  for  ever 
discredited  of  the  balance  of  power ;  but  that 

(3)  Every  territorial  settlement  involved  in  this  war  must 
be  made  in  the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  populations 
concerned,  and  not  as  a  part  of  any  mere  adjustment  or  com- 
promise of  claims  amongst  rival  States, 

(4)  That  all  well-defined  national  aspirations  shall  be  ac- 
corded the  utmost  satisfaction  that  can  be  accorded  them 
without  introducing  new  or  perpetuating  old  elements  of  dis- 
cord and  antagonism  that  would  be  likely  in  time  to  break  the 
peace  of  Europe,  and  consequently  of  the  world. 

TERRITORIAL  QUESTIONS. 

III. — The  Inter-Allied  Conference  considers  that  the  proc- 
lamation of  principles  of  international  law  accepted  by  all 
nations,  and  the  substitution  of  a  regular  procedure  for  the 
forceful  acts  by  which  States  calling  themselves  sovereign 
have  hitherto  adjusted  their  differences — in  short,  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  League  of  Nations — ^give  an  entirely  new  aspect 
to  territorial  problems. 

The  old  diplomacy  and  the  yearnings  after  domination  by 
States,  or  even  by  peoples,  which  during  the  whole  of  the  19th 
century  have  taken  advantage  of  and  corrupted  the  aspirations 
of  nationalities,  have  brought  Europe  to  a  condition  of  an- 
archy and  disorder  which  have  led  inevitably  to  the  present 
catastrophe. 

The  Conference  declares  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Labour  and 
Socialist  Movement  to  suppress  without  hesitation  the  Im- 
perialist designs  in  the  various  States  which  have  led  one  Gov- 
ernment after  another  to  seek,  by  the  triumph  of  military 
force,  to  acquire  either  new  territories  or  economic  advantage. 

The  establishment  of  a  system  of  international  law,  and  the 


16  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

guarantees  afforded  by  a  League  of  Nations,  ought  to  remove 
the  last  excuse  for  those  strategic  protections  which  nations 
have  hitherto  felt  bound  to  require. 

It  is  the  supreme  principle  of  the  right  of  each  people  to 
determine  its  own  destiny  that  must  now  decide  what  steps 
should  be  taken  by  way  of  restitution  or  reparation,  and  what- 
ever territorial  readjustments  may  be  found  to  be  necessary  at 
the  close  of  the  present  war. 

The  Conference  accordingly  emphasises  the  importance  to 
the  Labour  and  Socialist  Movement  of  a  clear  and  exact  defi- 
nition of  what  is  meant  by  the  right  of  each  people  to  deter- 
mine its  own  destiny.  Neither  destiny  of  race  nor  identity  of 
language  can  be  regarded  as  affording  more  than  a  presump- 
tion in  favour  of  federation  or  unification.  During  the  19th 
century  theories  of  this  kind  have  so  often  served  as  a  cloak 
for  aggression  that  the  International  cannot  but  seek  to  pre- 
vent any  recurrence  of  such  an  evil.  Any  adjustments  of 
boundaries  that  become  necessary  must  be  based  exclusively 
upon  the  desire  of  the  people  concerned. 

It  is  true  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  necessary  consultation 
of  the  desires  of  the  people  concerned  to  be  made  in  any  fixed 
and  invariable  way  for  all  the  cases  in  which  it  is  required,  and 
that  the  problems  of  nationality  and  territory  are  not  the  same 
for  the  inhabitants  of  all  countries.  Nevertheless,  what  is 
necessary  in  all  cases  is  that  the  procedure  to  be  adopted 
should  be  decided,  not  by  one  of  the  parties  to  the  dispute,  but 
by  the  super-national  authority. 

Upon  the  basis  of  the  general  principles  herein  formulated, 
the  Conference  proposes  the  following  solutions  of  particular 
problems : — 

Xa)  Belgium. 

The  Conference  emphatically  insists  that  a  foremost  con- 
dition of  peace  must  be  the  reparation  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment, under  the  direction  of  an  International  Commission,  of 
the  wrong  admittedly  done  to  Belgium ;  payment  by  that  Gov- 
ernment for  all  the  damage  that  has  resulted  from  this  wrong ; 
and  the  restoration  of  Belgium  as  an  independent  sovereign 
State,  leaving  to  the  decision  of  the  Belgian  people  the  deter- 
mination of  their  own  future  policy  in  all  respects. 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        17 


(b)  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 

The  Conference  declares  that  the  problem  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  is  not  one  of  territorial  adjustment,  but  one  of  right, 
and  thus  an  international  problem  the  solution  of  which  is 
indispensable  if  peace  is  to  be  either  just  or  lasting. 

The  Treaty  of  Frankfort  at  one  and  the  same  time  mutilated 
France  and  violated  the  right  of  the  inhabitants  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  to  dispose  of  their  own  destinies,  a  right  which  they 
have  repeatedly  claimed. 

The  new  Treaty  of  Peace,  in  recognising  that  Germany,  by 
her  declaration  of  war  of  1914,  has  herself  broken  the  Treaty 
of  Frankfort,  will  make  null  and  void  the  gains  of  a  brutal 
conquest  and  of  the  violence  committed  against  the  people. 

France,  having  secured  this  recognition,  can  properly  agree 
to  a  fresh  consultation  of  the  population  of  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine as  to  its  own  desires. 

The  Treaty  of  Peace  will  bear  the  signatures  of  every  nation 
in  the  world.  It  will  be  guaranteed  by  the  League  of  Nations. 
To  this  League  of  Nations  France  is  prepared  to  remit,  with 
the  freedom  and  sincerity  of  a  popular  vote  of  which  the 
details  can  be  subsequently  settled,  the  organisation  of  such  a 
consultation  as  shall  settle  for  ever,  as  a  matter  of  right,  the 
future  destiny  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  as  shall  finally 
remove  from  the  common  life  of  all  Europe  a  quarrel  which 
has  imposed  so  heavy  a  burden  upon  it. 

(c)  The  Balkans. 

The  Conference  lays  down  the  principle  that  all  the  viola- 
tions and  perversions  of  the  rights  of  the  people  which  have 
taken  place,  or  are  still  taking  place,  in  the  Balkans  must  be 
made  the  subject  of  redress  or  reparation. 

Serbia,  Montenegro,  Rumania,  Albania,  and  all  the  terri- 
tories occupied  by  military  force  should  be  evacuated  by  the 
hostile  forces.  Wherever  any  population  of  the  same  race  and 
tongue  demands  to  be  united  this  must  be  done.  Each  such 
people  must  be  accorded  full  liberty  to  settle  its  own  destiny, 
without  regard  to  the  Imperialist  pretensions  of  Austria,  Hun- 
gary, Turkey,  or  other  State. 


18  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

Accepting  this  principle,  the  Conference  prr^oses  that  the 
whole  problem  of  the  administrative  re-organisation  of  the 
Balkan  peoples  should  be  dealt  with  by  a  special  conference 
of  their  representatives,  or  in  case  of  disagreement  by  an 
authoritative  international  commission  on  the  basis  of  (a)  the 
concession  within  each  independent  sovereignty  of  local  auton- 
omy and  security  for  the  development  of  its  particular  civilisa- 
tion of  every  racial  minority;  (b)  the  universal  guarantee  of 
freedom  of  religion  and  political  equality  for  all  races;  (c)  a 
Customs  and  Postal  Union  embracing  the  whole  of  the  Balkan 
States,  with  free  access  for  each  to  its  natural  seaport;  (d) 
the  entry  of  all  the  Balkan  States  into  a  Federation  for  the 
concerted  arrangement  by  mutual  agreement  among  themselves 
of  all  matters  of  common  interest. 

Xd)  Italy. 

The  Conference  declares  its  warmest  sympathy  with  the 
people  of  Italian  blood  and  speech  who  have  been  left  outside 
the  boundaries  that  have,  as  a  result  of  the  diplomatic  agree- 
ments of  the  past,  and  for  strategic  reasons,  been  assigned  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  and  supports  their  claim  to  be  united 
with  those  of  their  own  race  and  tongue.  It  realises  that 
arrangements  may  be  necessary  for  securing  the  legitimate 
interests  of  the  people  of  Italy  in  the  adjacent  seas,  but  it 
condemns  the  aims  of  conquest  of  Italian  Imperialism,  and 
believes  that  all  legitimate  needs  can  be  safeguarded,  without 
precluding  a  like  recognition  of  the  needs  of  others  or  annexa- 
tion of  other  people's  territories. 

Regarding  the  Italian  population  dispersed  on  the  Eastern 
shores  of  the  Adriatic,  the  relations  betwe*'-'  ^taly  and  the 
Yugo-Slav  populations  must  be  based  on  prmciples  of  equity 
and  conciliation,  so  as  to  prevent  any  cause  of  future  quarrel. 

If  there  are  found  to  be  groups  of  Slavonian  race  within  the 
newly-defined  Kingdom  of  Italy,  or  groups  of  Italian  race  in 
Slavonian  territory,  mutual  guarantees  must  be  given  for  the 
assurance  to  all  of  them,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  of  full  lib- 
erty of  local  self-government  and  of  the  natural  development 
of  their  several  activities. 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        19 

(e)  Poland  and  the  Baltic  Provinces. 

In  accordance  with  the  right  of  every  people  to  determine 
its  own  destinies,  Poland  must  be  re-constituted  in  unity  and 
independence  with  free  access  to  the  sea. 

The  Conference  declares  further  that  any  annexation  by 
Germany,  whether  open  or  disguised,  of  Livonia,  Courland,  or 
Lithuania,  would  be  a  flagrant  and  wholly  inadmissible  viola- 
tion of  international  law. 

Xf)  The  Jews  and  Palestine. 

The  Conference  demands  for  the  Jews  in  all  countries  the 
same  elementary  rights  of  freedom  of  religion,  education, 
residence,  and  trade  and  equal  citizenship;  that  ought  to  be 
extended  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  every  nation.  It  further 
expresses  the  opinion  that  Palestine  should  be  set  free  from 
the  harsh  and  oppressive  government  of  the  Turk,  '"'  order 
that  this  country  may  form  a  Free  State,  under  intemi.  'onal 
guarantee,  to  which  such  of  the  Jewish  people  as  desire  to  do 
so  may  return  and  work  out  theit  own  salvation  free  from 
interference  by  those  of  alien  race  Gf  religion. 

(g)  The  Problem  of  tfe  Turkish  Empire. 

The  Conference  condemns  the  nanding  back  to  the  system- 
atically cruel  domination  of  the  Turkish  Government  any  sub- 
ject people.  Thus,  whatever  may  be  proposed  with  regard  to 
Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Arabia,  they  cannot  be  restored 
to  the  tyranny  of  the  Sultan  and  his  Pashas.  The  Conference 
condemns  the  imperialist  aims  of  Governments  and  capitalists 
who  would  make  of  these  and  other  territories  now  dominated 
by  the  Turkish  hordes  merely  instruments  either  of  exploita- 
tion or  militarism.  If  the  peoples  of  these  territories  do  not 
feel  themselves  able  to  settle  their  own  destinies,  the  Confer- 
ence insists  that,  conformably  with  the  policy  of  "no  annexa- 
tions," they  should  be  placed  for  administration  in  the  hands 
of  a  Commission  acting  under  the  Super-National  Authority 
or  League  of  Nations.  It  is  further  suggested  that  the  peace 
of  the  world  requires  that  the  Dardanelles  should  be  perma- 
nently and  eflfectively  neutralised  and  opened  like  all  the  main 
lines   of   marine   communication,   under  the   control   of   the 


20  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

League  of  Nations,  freely  to  all  nations,  without  hindrance  or 
Customs  duties. 

(h)  Austria-Hungary. 

The  Conference  does  not  propose  as  a  war  aim  dismember- 
ment of  Austria-Hungary  or  its  deprivation  of  economic  access 
to  the  sea.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Conference  cannot  admit 
that  the  claims  to  independence  made  by  the  Czecho-Slovaks 
and  the  Yugo-Slavs  must  be  regarded  merely  as  questions  for 
internal  decision.  National  independence  ought  to  be  ac- 
corded, according  to  rules  to  be  laid  down  by  the  League  of 
Nations,  to  such  peoples  as  demand  it,  and  these  communities 
ought  to  have  the  opportunity  of  determining  their  own  group- 
ings and  federations  according  to  their  affinities  and  interests. 
If  they  think  fit  they  are  free  to  substitute  a  free  federation 
of  Danubian  States  for  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire. 

(i)  The  Col0nies  and  Dependencies. 

The  International  has  always  condemned  the  Colonial  policy 
of  capitalist  Governments.  Without  ceasing  to  condemn  it, 
the  Inter-Allied  Conference  nevertheless  recognises  the  exist- 
ence of  a  state  of  things  which  it  is  obliged  to  take  into 
account. 

The  Conference  considers  that  the  treaty  of  peace  ought  to 
secure  to  the  natives  in  all  colonies  and  dependencies  effective 
protection  against  the  excesses  of  capitalist  colonialism.  The 
Conference  demands  the  concession  of  administrative  auton- 
omy for  all  groups  of  people  that  attain  a  certain  degree  of 
civilisation,  and  for  all  the  others  a  progressive  participation 
in  local  government. 

The  Conference  is  of  opinion  that  the  return  of  the  colonies 
to  those  who  possessed  them  before  the  war,  or  the  exchanges 
or  compensations  which  might  be  effected,  ought  not  to  be  an 
obstacle  to  the  making  of  peace. 

Those  colonies  that  have  been  taken  by  conquest  from  any 
belligerent  must  be  made  the  subject  of  special  consideration 
at  the  Peace  Conference,  as  to  which  the  communities  in  their 
neighbourhood  will  be  entitled  to  take  part.  But  the  clause 
in  the  treaty  of  peace  on  this  point  must  secure  economic 
equality  in  such  territories  for  the  peoples  of  all  nations,  and 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        21 

thereby  guarantee  that  none  are  shut  out  from  legitimate 
access  to  raw  materials ;  prevented  from  disposing  of  their 
own  products,  or  deprived  of  their  proper  share  of  economic 
development. 

As  regards  more  especially  the  colonies  of  all  the  belligerents 
in  Tropical- Africa,  from  sea  to  sea,  including  the  whole  of  the 
region  north  of  the  Zambesi  and  south  of  the  Sahara,  the  Con- 
ference condemns  any  imperialist  idea  which  would  make  these 
countries  the  booty  of  one  or  several  nations,  exploit  them  for 
the  profit  of  the  capitalist,  or  use  them  for  the  promotion  of 
the  militarist  aims  of  the  Governments. 

With  respect  to  these  colonies,  the  Conference  declares  in 
favour  of  a  system  of  control,  established  by  international 
agreement  under  the  League  of  Nations  and  maintained  by 
its  guarantee,  which,  whilst  respecting  national  sovereignty, 
would  be  alike  inspired  by  broad  conceptions  of  economic 
freedom  and  concerned  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the  natives 
under  the  best  conditions  possible  for  them,  and  in  particu- 
lar:— 

(i)  It  would  take  account  in  each  locality  of  the  wishes  of 
the  people,  expressed  in  the  form  which  is  possible  to  them. 

(2)  The  interests  of  the  native  tribes  as  regards  the  owner- 
ship of  the  soil  would  be  maintained. 

(3)  The  whole  of  the  revenues  would  be  devoted  to  the 
well-being  and  development  of  the  colonies  themselves. 

ECONOMIC  RELATIONS. 

IV. — The  Inter- Allied  Conference  declares  against  all  the 
projects  now  being  prepared  by  Imperialists  and  capitalists, 
not  in  any  one  country  only,  but  in  most  countries,  for  an 
economic  war,  after  peace  has  been  secured,  either  against 
one  or  other  foreign  nation  or  against  all  foreign  nations ;  as 
such  an  economic  war,  if  begun  by  any  country,  would  in- 
evitably lead  to  reprisals,  to. which  each  nation  in  turn  might 
in  self-defence  be  driven.  The  main  lines  of  marine  com- 
munication should  be  open  without  hindrance  to  vessels  of  all 
nations  under  the  protection  of  the  League  of  Nations.  The 
Conference  realises  that  all  attempts  at  economic  aggression, 
whether  by  protective  tariffs,  capitalist  trusts  or  monopolies, 
inevitably  result  in  the  spoliation  of  the  working  classes  of  the 


22  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

several  countries  for  the  profit  of  the  capitalists ;  and  the  work- 
ing class  see  in  the  alliance  between  the  Military  Imperialists 
and  the  FFscal  Protectionists  in  any  country  whatsoever  not 
only  a  serious  danger  to  the  prosperity  of  the  masses  of  the 
people,  but  also  a  grave  menace  to  peace.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  right  of  each  nation  to  the  defence  of  its  own  economic 
interests,  and,  in  face  of  the  world-shortage  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, to  the  conservation  for  its  own  people  of  a  sufficiency 
of  its  own  supplies  of  foodstuffs  and  raw  materials,  cannot  be 
denied.  The  Conference  accordingly  urges  upon  the  Labour 
and  Socialist  Parties  of  all  countries  the  importance  of  insist- 
ing, in  the  attitude  of  the  Government  towards  commercial 
enterprise  along  with  the  necessary  control  of  supplies  for  its 
own  people,  on  the  principle  of  the  open  door,  and  without 
hostile  discrimination  against  foreign  countries.  But  it  urges 
equally  the  importance,  not  merely  of  conservation,  but  also 
of  the  utmost  pocsible  development,  by  appropriate  Govern- 
ment action,  of  the  resources  of  every  country  for  the  benefit 
not  only  of  its  own  people,  but  also  of  the  world,  and  the  need 
for  an  international  agreement  for  the  enforcement  in  all  coun- 
tries of  the  legislation  on  factory  conditions,  a  maximum  eight- 
hour  day,  the  prevention  of  "sweating"  and  unhealthy  trades 
necessary  to  protect  the  workers  against  exploitation  and  op- 
pression, and  the  prohibition  of  night  work  by  women  and 
children. 

THE  PROBLEMS  OF  PEACE. 

V. — To  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy  involves  much 
more  than  the  prevention  of  war,  either  military  or  economic. 
It  will  be  a  device  of  the  capitalist  interests  to  pretend  that  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  need  concern  itself  only  with  the  cessation  of 
the  struggles  of  the  armed  forces  and  with  any  necessary  ter- 
ritorial readjustments.  The  Inter-Allied  Conference  insists 
that,  in  view  of  the  probable  world-wide  shortage,  after  the 
war,  of  exportable  foodstuffs  and  raw  materials  and  of  mer- 
chant shipping,  it  is  imperative,  in  order  to  prevent  the  most 
serious  hardships  and  even  possible  famine,  in  one  country  or 
another,  that  systematic  arrangements  should  be  made  on  an 
international  basis  for  the  allocation  and  conveyance  of  the 
available  exportable  surpluses  of  these  commodities  to  the  dif- 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        23 

ferent  countries,  in  proportion,  not  to  their  purchasing  powers, 
but  to  their  several  pressing  needs ;  and  that,  within  each  coun- 
try, the  Government  must  for  some  time  maintain  its  control 
of  the  most  indispensable  commodities,  in  order  to  secure  their 
appropriation,  not  in  a  competitive  market  mainly  to  the  richer 
classes  in  proportion  to  their  means,  but,  systematically,  to 
meet  the  most  urgent  needs  of  the  whole  community  on  the 
principle  of  "no  cake  for  anyone  until  all  have  bread." 

Moreover,  it  cannot  but  be  anticipated  that,  in  all  countries, 
the  dislocation  of  industry  attendant  on  peace,  the  instant  dis- 
charge of  millions  of  munition  makers  and  workers  in  war 
trades,  the  demobilisation  of  millions  of  soldiers,  the  scarcity 
of  industrial  capital,  the  shortage  of  raw  materials,  and  the 
insecurity  of  commercial  enterprise — these  will,  unless  prompt 
and  energetic  action  be  taken  by  the  several  Governments, 
plunge  a  large  part  of  the  wage-earning  population  into  all  the 
miseries  of  unemployment  more  or  less  prolonged.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  widespread  unemployment  in  any  country,  like  a 
famine,  is  an  injury  not  to  that  country  alone,  but  impoverishes 
also  the  rest  of  the  world,  the  Conference  holds  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  Government  to  take  immediate  action,  not  merely 
to  relieve  the  unemployed,  when  unemployment  has  set  in,  but 
actually,  so  far  as  may  be  practicable,  to  prevent  the  occur- 
rence of  unemployment.  It  therefore  urges  upon  the  Labour 
Parties  of  every  country  the  necessity  of  their  pressing  upon 
their  Governments  the  preparation  of  plans  for  the  execution 
of  all  the  innumerable  public  works  (such  as  the  making  and 
repairing  of  roads,  railways,  and  waterways,  the  erection  of 
schools  and  public  buildings,  the  provision  of  working-class 
dwellings,  and  the  reclamation  and  afforestation  of  land)  that 
will  be  required  in  the  near  future,  not  for  the  sake  of  finding 
measures  of  relief  for  the  unemployed,  but  with  a  view  to 
these  works  being  undertaken  at  such  a  rate  in  each  locality  as 
will  suffice,  together  with  the  various  capitalist  enterprises  that 
may  be  in  progress,  to  maintain  at  a  fairly  uniform  level  year 
by  year,  and  throughout  each  year,  the  aggregate  demand  for 
labour;  and  thus  prevent  there  being  any  unemployed.  It  is 
now  known  that  in  this  way  it  is  quite  possible  for  any  Govern- 
ment to  prevent,  if  it  chooses,  the  occurrence  of  any  wide- 
spread or  prolonged  involuntary  unemployment;  which,  if  it 


24  A  CLEAN  PEACE 

is  now  in  any  country  allowed  to  occur,  is  as  much  the  result 
of  Government  neglect  as  is  any  epidemic  disease. 

RESTORATION    OF    THE    DEVASTATED    AREAS    AND 
REPARATION  OF  WRONGDOING. 

VI. — The  Inter-Allied  Conference  holds  that  one  of  the 
most  imperative  duties  of  all  countries  immediately  peace  is 
declared  will  be  the  restoration,  so  far  as  may  be  possible,  of 
the  homes,  farms,  factories,  public  buildings,  and  means  of 
communication  wherever  destroyed  by  war  operations ;  that 
the  restoration  should  not  be  limited  to  compensation  for  pub- 
lic buildings,  capitalist  undertakings,  and  material  property 
proved  to  be  destroyed  or  damaged,  but  should  be  extended 
to  setting  up  the  wage-earners  and  peasants  themselves  in 
homes  and  employment ;  and  that  to  ensure  the  full  and  impar- 
tial application  of  these  principles  the  assessment  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  compensation,  so  far  as  the  cost  is  contributed  by 
any  International  fund,  should  be  made  under  the  direction  of 
an  International  Commission. 

The  Conference  will  not  be  satisfied  unless  there  is  a  full 
and  free  judicial  investigation  into  the  accusations  made  on 
all  sides  that  particular  Governments  have  ordered,  and  par- 
ticular officers  have  exercised,  acts  of  cruelty,  oppression,  vio- 
lence, and  theft  against  individual  victims,  for  which  no  justi- 
fication can  be  found  in  the  ordinary  usages  of  war.  It  draws 
attention,  in  particular,  to  the  loss  of  life  and  property  of 
merchant  seamen  and  other  non-combatants  (including  women 
and  children)  resulting  from  this  inhuman  and  ruthless  con- 
duct. It  should  be  part  of  the  conditions  of  peace  that  there 
should  be  forthwith  set  up  a  Court  of  Claims  and  Accusations, 
which  should  investigate  all  such  allegations  as  may  be  brought 
before  it,  summon  the  accused  person  or  Government  to  answer 
the  complaint,  pronounce  judgment  and  award  compensation 
or  damages,  payable  by  the  individual  or  Government  con- 
demned to  the  persons  who  had  suffered  wrong,  or  to  their 
dependants.  The  several  Governments  must  be  responsible, 
financially  and  otherwise,  for  the  presentation  of  the  cases  of 
their  respective  nationals  to  such  a  Court  of  Claims  and  Accu- 
sations, and  for  the  payment  of  the  compensation  awarded. 


THE  WAR  AIMS  OF  BRITISH  LABOUR        25 


INTERNATIONAL  CONFERENCE. 

VII. — The  Inter-Allied  Conference  is  ©f  opinion  that  an  In- 
ternational Conference  of  Labour  and  Socialist  organisations, 
held  under  proper  conditions,  would  at  this  stage  render  use- 
ful service  to  world  democracy  by  assisting  to  remove  mis- 
understandings, as  well  as  tne  obstacles  which  stand  in  the 
way  of  world  peace. 

Awaiting  the  resumption  of  the  normal  activities  of  the 
International  Socialist  Bureau,  we  consider  that  an  Interna- 
tional Conference,  held  during  the  period  of  hostilities,  should 
be  organised  by  a  committee  whose  impartiality  cannot  be 
questioned.  It  should  be  held  in  a  neutral  country,  under  such 
conditions  as  would  inspire  confidence;  and  the  Conference 
should  be  fully  representative  of  all  the  Labour  and  Socialist 
movement  in  all  the  belligerent  countries  accepting  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  Conference  is  convoked. 

As  an  essential  condition  to  an  International  Conference,  the 
Commission  is  of  opinion  that  the  organisers  of  the  Conference 
should  satisfy  themselves  that  all  the  organisations  to  be  repre- 
sented put  in  precise  form,  by  a  public  declaration,  their  peace 
terms  in  conformity  with  the  principles  "No  annexations  or 
punitive  indemnities,  and  the  right  of  all  peoples  to  self-deter- 
mination," and  that  they  are  working  with  all  their  power  to 
obtain  from  their  Governments  the  necessary  guarantees  to 
apply  these  principles  honestly  and  unreservedly  to  all  ques- 
tions to  be  dealt  with  at  any  official  peace  conference. 

In  view  of  the  vital  differences  between  the  Allied  countries 
and  the  Central  Powers,  the  Commission  is  of  opinion  that  it 
is  highly  advisable  that  the  Conference  should  be  used  to 
provide  an  opportunity  for  the  delegates  from  the  respective 
countries  now  in  a  state  of  war  to  make  a  full  and  frank  state- 
ment of  their  present  position  and  future  intentions,  and  to 
endeavour  by  mutual  agreement  to  arrange  a  programme  of 
action  for  a  speedy  and  democratic  peace. 

The  Conference  is  of  opinion  that  the  working  classes,  hav- 
ing made  such  sacrifices  during  the  war,  are  entitled  to  take 
part  in  securing  a  democratic  world  peace,  and  that  M.  Albert 
Thomas  (France),  M.  Emile  Vandervelde  (Belgium),  and 
Mr.  Arthur  Henderson   (Great  Britain)   be  appointed  as  a 


«6  A  CXEAN  PEACE 

Commission  to  secure  from  all  the  Governments  a  promise  ^hat 
at  least  one  representative  of  Labour  and  Socialism  will  be 
included  in  the  official  representation  at  any  Government  Con- 
ference, and  to  organise  a  Labour  and  Socialist  representation 
to  sit  concurrently  with  the  official  Conference;  further,  that 
no  country  be  entitled  to  more  than  four  representatives  at 
such  conference. 

The  Conference  regrets  the  absence  of  representatives  of 
American  Labour  and  Socialism  from  the  Inter-Allied  Con- 
ference, and  urges  the  importance  of  securing  their  approval 
of  the  decisions  reached.  With  this  object  in  view,  the  Con- 
ference agrees  that  a  deputation,  consisting  of  one  representa- 
tive from  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  and  Great  Britain,  together 
with  Camille  Huysmans  (secretary  of  the  International  So- 
cialist Bureau),  proceed  to  the  United  States  at  once,  in  order 
to  confer  with  representatives  of  the  American  democracy  on 
the  whole  situation  of  the  war. 

The  Conference  resolves  to  transmit  to  the  Socialists  of  the 
Central  Empires  and  of  the  nations  allied  with  them  the  mem- 
orandum in  which  the  Conference  has  defined  the  conditions 
of  peace,  conformably  with  the  principles  of  Socialist  and 
international  justice.  The  Conference  is  convinced  that  these 
conditions  will  commend  themselves  on  reflection  to  the  mind 
of  every  Socialist,  and  the  Conference  asks  for  the  answer  of 
the  Socialists  of  the  Central  Empires,  in  the  hope  that  these 
will  join  without  delay  in  a  joint  effort  of  the  International, 
which  has  now  become  more  than  ever  the  best  and  most 
certain  instrument  of  democracy  and  peace. 


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